Hovertravel recognises Emergency Services Day

09/09/25

To mark Emergency Services Day (9th September), Hovertravel has revealed that its award-winning Island Rescue service has performed 126 rapid emergency stretcher transfers between the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth in the last 12 months – averaging more than two lifesaving missions per week.



The Island Rescue service, delivered in partnership with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust and South Central Ambulance Service, uses Hovertravel’s unique hovercraft to transfer stretcher patients across the Solent in just minutes. The speed of this transfer not only improves patient outcomes by ensuring urgent treatment can begin without delay, but also enables paramedic teams to return to the island faster than by any other transfer method, keeping vital emergency resources available for island residents.

Loretta Lale, Head of Marketing at Hovertravel, said:

“Everyone at Hovertravel is honoured and humbled to work as part of a much wider team of emergency services personnel who help to save lives together. Our crews train side by side with paramedics and emergency responders, and we are proud that our unique hovercraft capability plays such an important role in helping patients when time matters most.”

Hovertravel’s Island Rescue patient transfer service has  won multiple awards for innovation and teamwork. Its success is based on seamless collaboration between Hovertravel, ambulance crews, NHS clinicians and other emergency services – all working with one shared goal: putting patients first.

As the UK observes Emergency Services Day, Hovertravel is paying tribute to the dedication and professionalism of the island’s paramedics, ambulance crews, NHS clinicians, coastguard teams, fire and police services – recognising the vital role they all play in protecting and saving lives every day.